Sweeping
by HorseshoesAreFun
Summary: Kate laughed. "You're so…" "Smart?" "No." "Talented." "Nope." "Cute?" "N… well, yeah. But that's not what I was thinking." He turned to grin at her. "What, then?" "Ten years old." (Post ep. 5x05)


_A/N: So, yeah. Plenty of post eps, but most of the ones I read were dreafully melancholy and dramatical. I just figured we could do with a little levity. So... plus this wouldn't go away. Now it's on you, instead of my mind._

"God, Castle. I'm _so_ glad you're here, that you're ok."

She slid closer to him on the couch then leaned her head down onto his chest, wrapping her arms around him. He instantly reciprocated, hugging her shoulders.

Gates had sent them home by the afternoon, when still no trace of Tyson had been found. They'd eaten a late lunch with Martha and Alexis, before Alexis went back to school and Martha went off to do whatever is was that she did. They hadn't asked. But now they were alone in the loft and all the events of the past few days were catching up with them.

"Me too," he said, resting his cheek in her hair.

"It would have ruined me if anything happened to you."

"It would?"

She pulled away and looked up at him with a frown. "Castle, yes. You honestly have to ask?"

"No, it's just... You seemed pretty cool about the whole thing. Like, 'oh yeah they're throwing my boyfriend in prison for murder and he's probably gonna get shanked before he even gets out of booking. But, no big deal. Just another day at the office.'"

He was playing it as serious as he could, but he couldn't hide the glint of humor in his eyes.

"Ok, seriously?" She flicked his ear. "I said I would get you out!"

"I had to get myself out."

"Only cause you didn't even give me a chance. I was working on it."

"How?"

He was full-on grinning now. Clearly disbelieving her, but interested to see what the notoriously-straight-laced Detective Kate Beckett was willing to do, to spring him from the slammer.

Her eyes narrowed at him, irritated that he was amused by this. "Just for that I'm not telling you."

Leaning back, he folded his arms and replied, "Because you didn't really have a plan."

She kept glaring at him, before she finally caved. "Fine! I was gonna bust you out of holding."

"No you weren't." He was laughing and she was pinching his nipple. "Ow ow ow! Ok, I believe you!" When she let go, he added, "But if you were gonna bust me out of holding, how come I was still there when they came to transfer me?"

"Javi wouldn't let me."

Castle scoffed. "Remind me not to buy him a Christmas present. He probably wanted me to die in prison," he said, with a pouty frown.

"Stop being a drama queen. He was just trying to keep me from getting myself into trouble."

With a "humph," he turned his head away and closed his eyes.

She laughed and said, "If it makes you feel any better, he told me he loved you too."

Castle's eyes snapped back open and his eyebrows shot up before he countered, "Well, you just tell Javier that I don't swing that way."

Kate laughed again. Then they were quiet for a second, looking at each other and just enjoying their mutual amusement.

Suddenly Castle's eyes flashed realization and he said, "Wait, so the guys know about us now? Are you upset?"

She smiled and bit her lip. "Actually, a little relieved."

"Yeah?" He was smiling too now. "Did they tell Lanie?"

"No. But I did." She shook her head and huffed before adding, "Then I sat on the floor of my apartment and cried on her shoulder for like three hours, while you were in jail."

"Wait, you cried over me?" he asked, taken aback.

She rolled her eyes and looked anywhere but his face. "Maybe a little."

As much as he hated the idea of her crying, brokenhearted, while he sat in the precinct's holding cell, it touched his heart that she cared that much. Not only that, but she had admitted it to him, and that surprised him even more.

"Would it be awful if I said that made me feel better?" he asked, grinning.

"Yes." She tried to roll her eyes, but laughed instead.

Castle smirked. "You just love me too much, don't you?"

"Way too much," she answered, mirroring his smirk as she climbed over to straddle him, her eyes turning hungry and raking over his lips.

She was going in for as kiss and settling onto his lap, hands on his chest, when for once, he did what it seemed only she did to him.

He sucked in a breath, pulling away and said, "Sorry, Kate."

"What?" she asked, pushing against his chest to lean back and look at him.

He grimaced. "It's just…"

"What, Castle?" She was starting to look a little worried now.

"Can we like…" He paused, looking around. "Close all the blinds?"

Her face turned to a mixture of confusion and amusement. "Umm… Ok? Why are you suddenly paranoid? I thought you were turned on by the possibility of random strangers seeing us… as if anyone _could_ on this floor."

"It's possible!" he protested.

She laughed. "Yeah, from across the street, with binoculars. That's likely."

He sighed and dropped his head onto the back of the couch. He hadn't wanted to tell her. He hadn't wanted her to be unnecessarily creeped out. But then again, if she knew there was something to know, that he wasn't telling her, she'd be pissed. And now she was catching on, because she could read him like a book.

"Castle," she said sternly, forcing him to pick his head back up and look at her. "Tell. Me."

"You saw Tyson's surveillance photos."

Her brow furrowed. "You think he…"

"I _know_," he interrupted.

"Wait, what?" she was really frowning now. "Castle, you…"

"When he monologued me in holding, he said he watched me. Watched us. It was… I wanted to throw up."

She closed her eyes and her forehead crumpled the way it did when she was trying not to hear something she didn't want to be true. He waited while she processed.

"Ok," she finally said, looking at him once more. "That's beyond creepy and I wish I'd never known that, but, Castle. He's dead."

"You know I don't believe he is, Kate."

She sighed. "Fine. But even if he were alive, he'd be long gone by now. I mean, we have hot sex but I don't think he'd stick around just to watch it. And anyway, if he _was_ stupid enough keep coming after us, I don't think a couple of curtains would stop him."

Castle gasped and practically pushed her off his lap.

"Now what?" she complained, falling back onto the couch, watching him jump up and run into his office.

"You're right!" he said, reemerging with a box. "Remember that package I got at the precinct this morning?"

"Yeah?" she was leaning back on her elbows now, watching him suspiciously.

He fought with the tape for a second before he got the box open, and showed her its contents.

"Oh great. Headphones and a cattle prod," she said wearily. "What are you gonna do with those?"

"It's not…" He picked her feet up and sat under them, pulling the gadget from the box. "It's a bug sweeper. We're gonna check this place up and down, then we're gonna check your place."

"Where did you get that?"

"The internet," he said proudly. "Aaaaannndddd…" He held up another small device. "…a bug."

"Ok. The bug sweeper, I get. But why do you need a bug? Are you gonna bug _yourself_?"

He looked at her like it was obvious. "Quality control, Beckett! How will we know if this thing actually works, if we don't have a bug to test it on?"

Finally, she laughed. "So then what are we waiting for? Let's make a bug sweep."

With a huge grin, he went to work, giddily putting together his new bug sweeper, glad that even when she was annoyed by him, it still wasn't very hard to get her on board with his antics.

After a few minutes of him trying to get the thing to work and failing, he was getting nowhere.

She nudged him with her leg that was still draped across his lap, and said, "Give it here."

"I've almost got it."

His tongue was sticking out just a tad and his brow was turned down in concentration, but as cute as he looked, she was getting impatient.

"Castle, give it to me. I know how to do it."

"How do _you_ know how to work a bug sweeper?"

"I work for the police!"

He scoffed. "You're a homicide detective, not a CIA agent. How often could you possibly need one of these?"

Reaching down, she poked him in the ribs. "Often enough to be able to get it working faster than you are. It's not that hard."

"It's more complicated than it looks!"

"Give it."

"No!"

"Why?

"Because. I can handle everyone thinking I'm the sissy tagalong, and watching you as badass-super-cop, at work. It's really hot most of the time. But I don't need you emasculating me in my own home."

Kate held back a laugh. "_That's_ what this is about? Castle, no one thinks you're a sissy. You've saved my life multiple times!"

Managing to tear his eyes away from the bug sweeper, he looked at her. "And every time, it's been because I was the only one there to do it. No one ever gets to see me do badass stuff except for you, so they think it's a myth."

This time, she couldn't hold back her chuckle. "But, _I_ think you're a sexy badass. Is that not enough? Anyway, there's no one here _now_ to see you work that bug sweeper in a manly way, so you might as well just let me do it."

She gave him a taunting look and he glared at her. "Would you just go away? You're not helping."

"Gimmie it."

"No."

"I'll fix it for you."

"It's not broken." He went back to work on it. "And, no."

"Fine, then call me when you figure it out," she said, dragging herself up off the couch and chuckling. "_IF_, you figure it out."

He waved her off as she walked away, saying, "Go read some Nikki Heat fanfiction or something."

"I don't do that," she called back. "And I never did, by the way!"

"The more you declare it, the more I don't believe it!"

She went in his office and got on the computer to surf the fansite. He knew she was a member, but she still refused to tell him what her screen name was. Any time he was around, she always used his hiding-in-plain-sight login, "reallyrar_123" that he had for lurking on the boards. She'd laughed at him and told him that the hardcore fans probably knew his real initials, but he had insisted that he hadn't been made yet, so he wasn't worried about it.

* * *

About ten minutes later, she heard, "Aha! I got it!"

And when she walked back into the living room, he had the headphones on and he was waving the wand over his bug.

"It works!" he cheered, grinning like a kid.

"About time," she replied, watching as he started sweeping the room.

"I don't know why I never thought to do this before. It's like a treasure hunt!"

Kate laughed. "You're so…"

"Smart?"

"No."

"Talented."

"Nope."

"Cute?"

"N… well, yeah. But that's not what I was thinking."

He turned to grin at her. "What, then?"

"Ten years old."

"I take that as a compliment," he said resolutely.

"You would," she retorted, laughing.

He made his way back over to her and swept her like he was TSA and she was at the airport.

"You're clean," he said, while she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Oh, really."

"Yep." He nodded, glancing around. "Room's clear too. Let's sweep my bedroom next."

As he started making his way in that direction, she said, "Hey, when do I get a turn?"

"Ooo! Good idea!" He ran back over to the table behind the couch. "How about this…" He picked up the bug that he'd left there. "I hide it, and you have to sweep the house until you find it!"

"No." She stepped in front of him; one eyebrow arched, and plucked the bug from his hand. "I'm hiding, you're finding."

"I like that even better," he said, excited.

* * *

She made him listen to his Ipod and close his eyes while she hid it. He didn't care though, because it built the excitement and he loved it when she played his games with him.

And he was even more excited when he felt her body pressing up against him, and one ear of his headphones being slid back as her lips skimmed his ear and she whispered a throaty, "Fetch."

His eyes were open in a second and he couldn't stop himself from kissing her and letting his free hand slide down her back and over her ass, before he started working the room, searching. She sauntered over to the kitchen and hopped up on a bar stool, crossing her legs and watching him, a wicked grin playing on her face.

It was making him slightly uncomfortable, in an arousing sort of way, as he swept the living room, then the kitchen, her eyes trained on him the whole time. He kept sneaking glances at her, trying not to get distracted from his task, but god almighty, she was looking hot, perched up there, with her back arched slightly and a glint of mischievousness in her eyes.

"Can you give me a hint?" he asked when he finished sweeping the kitchen, coming to stand in front of where she was sitting.

"Sure," she said, smiling sweetly and leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his lips. "It's right next to, hell-no-I'm-not-giving-you-a-hint."

He looked aghast and she laughed at him when he said, "Hey, that's not fair!"

"Castle, you've only looked through two rooms. This was your idea. You can't be petering out already."

"No, this is fun," he assured her. "I'm just… you're driving me crazy sitting there looking all smug and sexy."

She laughed and patted his chest. "Just keep lookin', Ricky. You'll be proud of yourself when you find it."

"Then, can I have it?" he asked, looking her up and down lustfully, inferring his meaning.

With a smirk, she hopped down and started towards his bedroom, throwing him a glance over her shoulder. "You gotta find the bug first."

His puppy dog instinct kicked in and he trotted after her. "I love this game!"

She sat on the bed and continued watching him as he paraded his bug sweeper around the room.

When he waved it near the dresser, a little red light started blinking and she could have sworn that he let out something like a squeal. Waving his electronics around, he narrowed it down to one drawer, yanking off his headphones and pulling it open.

"Katherine Beckett!" he said, turning to grin salaciously at her over his shoulder. "You hid the bug in my underwear drawer? How very scandalous of you!"

She just pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow, and watching him expectantly. So, he turned back around and rifled through the drawer full of folded boxers.

Then he gasped. "Oh my god." He held up the bug in one hand, but it was completely forgotten because something dangled from the pinky of his other hand. "Why is there sexy, purple lingerie in my underwear drawer?"

Her smirk returned but she didn't say anything.

"Kate, are these yours? Did you put these in here, just for me?" he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, clearly none of my other advances were working. You were too busy playing with your gadget."

"That sounds so dirty!"

"I wish it had been."

Castle laughed and tossed the lingerie onto the bed beside her. "Oh trust me, Kate. We can get all kinds of dirty. Now go put that on."

"Why, so you can take it right back off?" she asked, the playful glint returning to her eyes.

"It'll be like opening presents on Christmas morning!"


End file.
